Africa burns more than 30 million liters of diesel a year
to power mobile phone base stations, according to industry
group GSMA.

The number of stations without a connection to the
electricity grid will only rise as the industry is planning to
spend more than $50 billion over five years to bring coverage
to remoter areas.

"In Africa, in many markets in this part of the world,
there is an abundance of sun, an abundance of wind," Alex
Shalaby, CEO of Egyptian mobile carrier Mobinil told Reuters at
the sidelines of the ITU Telecom Africa conference in Cairo.

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"If there isn't a business case today, there will be once
oil is at $200 (a barrel)."

Celtel, the African business of Kuwait's Mobile
Telecommunications Co (Zain), is switching a number of sites to
a technology similar to the one used in hybrid cars, its Chief
Executive Chris Gabriel told Reuters.

"Diesel consumption is a significant cost item. We are
changing over a lot of our diesel sites to hybrid sites...you
run your diesel generators for eight hours, as an example, it
charges up the batteries, the diesel shuts off, the batteries
run down," he said.

"You can reduce your diesel consumption by about 55 percent
using this technology."

Low-power equipment can do its part to reduce the need for
diesel generators, equipment vendors said.

Huawei said its latest base station consumed 47 percent
less energy and can be powered by solar panels and a wind
turbine, with energy stored in batteries for backup. It also
requires less cooling as it can withstand temperatures of up to
55 degrees Celsius.

The total cost of ownership -- the combination of initial
capital spending and ongoing costs of maintenance and
operations -- is 30 percent lower, a Huawei product manager
said.

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) showed a low-power product for
covering villages with a mobile phone signal, which can also be
powered by solar panels.

Apart from consuming less energy, the capital spending is
about a tenth of a normal mobile phone base station, making it
an easier business case for rural areas with a low income that
generate low revenue, NSN said.